Series win puts Sri Lanka clear in fourth place on ICC Test Championship Table

ICC Media Release September 3, 2001

Sri Lanka's 2 - 1 series win over India has moved it into a clear fourth place on the revised ICC Test Championship table. Prior to this series Sri Lanka shared fourth position with the West Indies, but are now .08 of a point ahead of the team from the Caribbean.

The series result replaces that of the previous fixture in 1997/98, when both Tests were drawn, thus giving Sri Lanka an additional point to its total (now 14 from 13 completed series) while India lose a point, 9 from 13 series.

India's continued poor away form means it drops a place to eighth on the ladder, one position below Pakistan, who could extend the gap further with a winning home series against New Zealand in October.

The updated Championship table shows:

Team        Played Won  Lost Drawn Points Average
Australia    13     10   2     1     21    1.62
South Africa 15     10   3     2     22    1.47
England      14      7   5     2     16    1.14
Sri Lanka    13      6   5     2     14    1.08
West Indies  13      6   6     1     13    1.00
New Zealand  15      6   7     2     14    0.93
Pakistan     15      3   7     5     11    0.73
India        13      3   7     3      9    0.69
Zimbabwe     14      2  10     2      6    0.43
Bangladesh    1      0   1     0      0     -

About the ICC Test Championship Two points are allocated for winning a series and one for a drawn rubber. The result -and points allocation- of all future series will replace the previous equivalent.

At present, an average score per series (number of points won divided by number of series played) has been allocated to determine the top side, because not all teams have played each other home and away. This transitional arrangement will change to a straight points system when all teams have played each other home and away, in 2005.

The Championship has been introduced to add interest, context and excitement to the game at the highest level. It will run on a rolling league basis, with the system used for calculating positions based on the results of the most recent series (a minimum of two Test series applies), home and away, between each of the teams.

The adoption of a co-ordinated 10 year calendar of future tours by all ICC members has created the long term structure on which to base the Championship.

© ICC